Advent International to sell Partner in Pet Food, a manufacturer of private-label pet food, to Pamplona Capital Management

Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, today announced that it has agreed to sell Partner in Pet Food (“PPF”), a leading European manufacturer of private-label pet food, to Pamplona Capital Management (“Pamplona”) for an enterprise value of €315 million.

Since acquiring the business, through a corporate carve-out from Provimi Group in 2011, Advent has worked alongside the original management team to rebrand the company, establish a standalone corporate structure, increase PPF’s footprint across Europe and introduce new product lines. Sales increased significantly over the period, both organically and through the acquisition of Agro-Trust in 2013, which enabled PPF to enter the premium, alucup pre-packaged segment. Operational improvements and product innovation, particularly the focus on developing single-serve products, also resulted in increased profitability.

With Advent’s support, whilst continuing to consolidate its position in Central and Eastern Europe, PPF entered new markets including Italy and Scandinavia and increased its presence in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Slovenia and Croatia. Today, through its eight production facilities across Europe, PPF supplies leading international and local retailers in over 37 countries.

Chris Mruck, Partner, Advent International, said: “We would like to thank PPF’s management team for their outstanding commitment and the results they have achieved over the last four years. Together we have transformed PPF into a leading European private-label pet food producer.”

Milan Kulich, Director, Advent International, added: “PPF’s innovative products, broad geographic footprint and industry-leading R&D and production capabilities help to ensure that the company is well positioned to maximise its potential going forward.”

Attilla Balogh, Chief Executive Officer, Partner in Pet Food, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Advent. Their deep understanding of the business, particularly on the operations side, has helped the company thrive at a time when many other European consumer goods companies have faltered. Since the carve-out in 2011, we have gone from strength to strength and are excited about entering our next phase of growth in partnership with Pamplona.”

The transaction is subject to antitrust approval and consultation with PPF’s works council.

About Partner in Pet Food
Partner in Pet Food (PPF) is an innovative and leading European pet food producer, supplying over 200 customers, including major grocery retailers, in the 37 markets in which it operates. PPF is the second largest producer of private label wet and dry pet food in Europe, offering a full range of high quality cat and dog food products including; dry; cans; alucups; pouches; semi moist; snacks and cat milk. The business, headquartered in Budapest, employs around 1,200 staff and has eight production facilities across Europe in Hungary, Slovakia, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.For more information, visit www.ppfeurope.com